Both my gelding and my colt have choked before and since then we try to break up the hay before feeding it to them. Though we didn't call the vet, we helped keep them call and wiped their nose so they could breath. However this was just simple chocking and they soon got it over with and started eating again.
After one of our horses died from pneumonia following choking, we are very sensitive about this subject. Our other 3 horses were also choking regularly during feeding - we were using pelleted feed. We switched to Purina Omolene, added rocks in their feed buckets to slow them down, and watch them carefully during eating.
My horse choked yesterday. I didn't even realize she was choking, it looked like she had a cold or something. Her nose was runny, she was coughing and trying hard to swallow but couldn't. A few minutes later, she was fine. She scarfed down her food too fast. She wasn't choking terribly bad since she tried to run away from me in the field when I went to catch her. I called the vet the next morning, and I'm keeping a close eye on her to make sure she's okay.
What do you do if the vet is unreachable? We have one vet that covers 3 counties. It may take hours for him to get there or maybe not at all. What should we do under these circumstances? What if the horse doesn't recover on their own? Should you put your hand in their throat to look for an obstruction? Try a tracheotomy as a last resort or try mouth to nose resuscitation?
I think most people want to know what to do when its a matter of life or death. Most would call a vet asp. But if its a matter of life or death we want to do something right then and thier.We want to know should we put our hand down throt or cut a hole in the throt so the hosre can breath until the vet arives. Whats the most life saving thing to do?
I appreciate the suggestion that you call a Vet to deal with many horse situations, but many of us do not have a Vet that will come out to deal with emergency situations. If it is during office hours, my Vet usually tells me to bring the horse in and they can take a look. At times, this is just not possible for me or safe for the horse. We really do need more information on how we can help our horses at home.
My horse choked not to long ago. I had to wait for and hour for the vet. While I was waiting I kept the horse calm and massaged her throat to help break up the mass. However, it was so far down that it would have been impossible to remove mechanically. A hose at a trickle into the nose and down the throat helps. However, use caution, you could get it in the lungs. Don't leave the hose in to long. You only want to break up the mass. Let the water run back out of the nose/mouth. Be careful not to drown them with to much water.
after having encounters with a choking horse i have learnt these measures. how to prevent.... dont give youre horse hay in the horse float if you are going down a bumpy road. inspect your hay and look out for chokeable items such as dusty hay or hay with clumps in it. sighns of a choking horse... coughing and mucas/snot being discharged from the nostral aera. what to do.. CALL THE VET DONT let your horse lay down and get him/her at a trot and continue to massage the throat and back into a trot. my experiance took me about 2 hours follow the vets advice and after the event hose down the horse
My horse chocked last night. Luckily I was able to get it resolved within a couple minutes. All I did was keep her calm, and massage her throat. I could hear where the blockage was. All it took was a massage, and remaining calm (myself and the horse). A little more information would be helpful as to what to do if you can't go to the vet and the vet can't come to you right away.